Car Review: 2007 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500

In the flat-out frenzy of global automotive competition, the Ford Motor Co. is relying on a strength honed over a century:

Ford does Fast.

From the Model B that Henry Ford piloted to a speed record on a frozen Lake St. Clair to the “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday” Galaxie 500XLs that thundered to NASCAR trophies, the Michigan automaker has translated race course victories to showroom success.

Which explains why, with jobs and factories and market share falling, Ford brought auto writers from across Canada to a race track here this week to test two competition-inspired street cars that could only be described as rare and rarer — the $50,000-plus Shelby GT500 and the $185,000 Ford GT.

Canada will get 400 copies of the Shelby, and just half that number of GTs.

These are hardly the affordable, innovative small sedans and so-called crossovers Ford knows it must have for mass-market survival. But for getting attention and buying time, their halos burn with a xenon intensity.

Not only do the GT and GT500 showcase Ford’s engineering prowess in extracting 500 horsepower from an off-the-shelf V-8, but they link in design and name with two of the automaker’s most storied models of the 1960s: the Caroll Shelby-massaged Mustangs that turned ponycars to muscle cars, and the GT40 race cars that conquered Le Mans.

Further evidence of Ford’s resolve to wring every mile and mention from these high-profile, low-volume cars was the presence at the remote, rain-blown track of Hau Thai-Tang.

Saigon-born and U.S.-raised, Mr. Thai-Tang is the engineer who led the revival of the 2005 Mustang as a retro homage to the first issue of the famous Ford coupe and convertible. Now, as head of the advanced product creation team, he holds a crucial role in planning for the automaker’s future.

But in line with the race-to-win strategy, he also leads Ford’s SVT performance program. And while the 83-year-old Caroll Shelby has lent his imprimatur to the latest Mustang variant, it’s clear when Mr. Thai-Tang circles the 2007 GT500 that this slight engineer’s fingerprints will be found all over this wide-tired monster.

“It’s got a much more aggressive running look,” he says, pointing to the large upper and lower grilles and functional heat-extraction ducts in the hood. Looking fast is as important as going fast.

Other points of pride are the front “splitter” and rear spoiler that eliminate aerodynamic lift, the six-speed transmission with low-inertia ceramic-metallic clutch, and perhaps most significant, the certified 500-h.p. rating that is up 25 horsepower from projections for the supercharged 5.4-litre V-8.

Lined with Shelby stripes and dotted with SVT and Shelby Cobra logos, the GT500 shouts its performance status. Inside, “ebony black” leather covers the seats, door panels and dash top and satin-aluminum trim replaces the Mustang’s standard interior chrome for a more upscale message about a car that will cost “in the low 50s,” in coupe form and close to $60,000 as convertible when it arrives this summer.

Exact prices won’t be disclosed until later this month, giving Ford a second chance at a hot media lap. Ford’s publicity staff also asked car writers to withhold “driving impressions” until June — another standard ploy for further exposure.

But who couldn’t imagine the impression this car leaves? Of course it’s fast, with the 32-valve V-8 force-fed by a screw-type supercharger for a torque-on-demand range that almost eliminates the need to downshift for corners.

The tall hood fills your lower vision and may summon memories of ’60s muscle cars. So might the mass of the big-block engine beneath it, which burdens the GT500 with a 57/43 front-rear weight ratio. A standard Mustang GT has a 54/46 weight split.

Yet this super-‘Stang doesn’t feel especially nose-heavy, and with P285/40ZR18 Goodyears on the back (P255/45s on the front), the rear stays planted long after you expect it to break loose. With a live rear axle and no skid control even as an option, the GT500 will slide out under heavy throttle, of course, but a snap of the wheel brings it back in line.

Mr. Thai-Tang said independent rear suspension could appear on a still-pricier Mustang variant that could “theoretically” be built, perhaps as a Lincoln.

What will surprise buyers is how easily the GT500 moves from standstill, and how mannered it is at lower speeds or in quick, tight bends.

“In terms of performance,” says design engineer and racer Gene Martindale, “what we wanted was to make this a multidimensional car and not just a traditional muscle car.”

The mid-engined, two-seat Ford GT is also meant as a “very civil car to drive on the street,” said Mr. Thai-Tang. Again, judging by its track behaviour, that’s probably true.

With 550 horsepower from the same 5.4 V-8 and significantly less weight than the GT500, the iconic GT leaps to scenery-blurring speed on the straightaways but cuts through curves with an ease that could make any driver feel as capable as Dan Gurney.

Still, few owners will risk these showpieces on the race course. Canada gets in on the tail end of the two-year GT production run, and only after modifications that include more foam behind the nose and a larger setoff for the rear bumper to meet Canada’s tougher impact standards.

Ford has sent 100 GTs to select Canadian dealers and will deliver the remaining 100 later this year. Even with invoices topping $205,000 for buyers who order forged aluminum wheels and blue-and-orange “Heritage Livery” paint, the initial shipment is reportedly sold, says Ford of Canada marketing chief Al McCormick.

However, he adds, “some dealers might be holding on to them for a while since they’re only getting one.”

Ford comes back to Earth with the Canadian-built Edge crossover that goes on sale later this year and upcoming all-wheel-drive and hybrid versions of its Fusion sedan.

Next, says Mr. Thai-Tang, could be an entry in the burgeoning small-car “B-class” — but not the type of compromise-bound economy car people think they must settle for.

“It could be time,” he says, “for an American B-class vehicle that is aspirational … something that you want to have.”